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People come from all over to ‘see our’ CR Horses

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Charlene and Rodney Boom, of CR Quarter Horses, have enjoyed 54 trips out west with their horses since 1972. Here, they are pictured in red rock country near Sedona, Ariz., this past spring. The couple lives on a ranch in Bridgeport, where they breed, raise, train and sell some of the best breeding stock to people all over the country and in Canada. (Submitted photo)

The Booms have hired many young people over the years to train their horses. Two of their current employees are Traci Wilkinson and Kayley Frautsche, pictured with Charlene, a couple horses ready to give rides at Wisconsin Badger Camp and several of their rowdy Dalmations, which they also breed, raise and sell. (Photo by Correne Martin)

A new foal enjoys the sunshine on the CR Quarter Horses ranch. (Photo by Correne Martin)

By Correne Martin

Anybody from the area who knows anything about horses, probably knows Charlene and Rodney Boom, of CR Quarter Horses—you know, the ranch along Highway 18 just south of Bridgeport.

The couple has sold between six and 12 broke trail and pack horses, show and stallion prospects per year, for the past 40 years. The husband and wife have traveled and rode out west 54 times since 1972, generally for two months at a time, riding the countryside in places like South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska. They’ve provided horses to Wisconsin Badger Camp for camper rides for 34 years. They’re frequent faces at the Midwest Horse Fair. 

This year alone, they’ve sold eight horses in seven months, including two shipped to Arizona in March. The Booms have sold 33 stallions in 17 states, plus three in Canada. 

“People come from a long ways to buy our breeding stock,” Charlene proudly stated.

That’s a lot to have packed into over five decades of marriage.

“We’ve been horsing around for 52 years,” she chuckled.

Rodney grew up among a horse-breeding family in the Prairie du Chien area, while Charlene came from Fennimore. They met when she came to town to compete for rodeo queen. 

“I put myself through college selling horses. I had 16 horses when we got married,” she remembered.

They moved to their current home in 1977 and raised two daughters, Crystal and Renee, whose names, like Charlene and Rodney, also give meaning to CR Quarter Horses. Charlene happens to be a retired teacher and Rodney a tradesmen who’s worked the likes of Bituma and Dillman Equipment.

Living in a mobile home on the property in those early years, they brought up 287 calves from a couple of brown Swiss cows. They also started raising Dalmations in 1978 and have “put a lot of spots out into the world.”

After losing their calves in a barn fire, the Booms decided to focus their family business mainly on horses, though the pup stud service remains strong on the ranch as well. They also raise all their own corn, oats and hay on the 168 acre farm—plus 68 acres up the hill, adjoining Badger Camp’s property, to complete the entire ranch.

Preparing their mares and stallions for sale takes several years of time, effort and training. This involves teaching the horses packing, reining, roping, pleasure riding, showing, barrel racing and pole bending. They are ridden in the barn, bare and saddled, long and short distances. They become accustomed to people from foals on up. 

“When they’re babies, they’re weaned in the fall and led around the barn. We brush them and put blankets on them,” Charlene said. “When they’re 1-year-olds, we take them up on the hill for two years, where they can just be wild. Then, they come down, we put tarps overtop them and stack cans on them, basically let them get used to everything they might be faced with.”

She added, “Our goal is to raise an all-around horse. Our horses can do everything, maybe not as well as those specialized for certain jobs, but we believe your horse should do whatever you have to do for your horse.”

CR Quarter Horses sticks to two particular blood lines—Jackie Bees and Two-Eyed Jacks—for consistency, performance, looks, soundness and disposition, Charlene noted. Two-Eyed Jack has more AQHA champions than any other blood line in the nation has or will have, she said.

As the Booms have aged into their mid-70s, they have hired many young people over the years to do their training. “The ground gets harder every year,” Charlene admitted, with a laugh.

Still, CR Quarter Horses continues to remain a solid name industry-wide. 

“People come from all over the country to ‘CR’ horses,” she joked. In fact, they’ve sold one horse that became a Madison police horse, and NFL legend Terry Bradshaw has a number of their blood lines. Charlene and Rodney have met him several times and have attended his horse sale in Texas twice. “He’s funnier than hell,” she stated.

Among the reasons the couple hasn’t retired just yet, besides simply being the type of people who love being outdoors, they enjoy meeting so many wonderful people through the business.

“I can honestly say a lot of our customers are our best friends,” Charlene said. “One family has 11 of our horses.”

But the pair is trying to scale back. They once had over 70 horses at the ranch. Now, they own half that, including one mare that’s 24 years old and has given birth every year since she was 3 years old. They’d like to cut back to just four broodmares and two stallions.

They also have plans to continue with the local FFA horse judging contest—new in 2017—which brought students from 16 schools to the ranch. They offered a colt training experience, three years ago, through which the cowboy or cowgirl who finished with the best-trained colt won a nice cash prize. These types of opportunities to give back to the next generation of horse lovers are something the Booms anticipate keeping up as well.

After all, horses aren’t their whole lives. Rather, horses have made their lives whole.

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